Earnings results often give us a good indication of what direction the company will take in the months ahead. With Q2 now behind us, let’s have a look at Zscaler (NASDAQ:ZS) and its peers.
Cybersecurity continues to be one of the fastest growing segments within software for good reason. Almost every company is slowly finding itself becoming a technology company and facing rising cybersecurity risks. Businesses are accelerating adoption of cloud based software, moving data and applications into the cloud to save costs while improving performance. This migration has opened them to a multitude of new threats, like employees accessing data via their smartphone while on an open network, or logging into a web-based interface from a laptop in a new location.
The 9 cybersecurity stocks we track reported a mixed Q2; on average, revenues beat analyst consensus estimates by 2.88%, while on average next quarter revenue guidance was 0.31% under consensus. Increasing interest rates hurt growth companies as investors search for near-term cash flows and cybersecurity stocks have not been spared, with share price down 12.8% since the previous earnings results, on average.
Zscaler (NASDAQ:ZS)
After successfully selling all four of his previous cybersecurity companies, Jay Chaudhry's fifth venture, Zscaler (NASDAQ:ZS) offers software as a service that helps companies securely connect to applications and networks in the cloud.
Zscaler reported revenues of $318 million, up 61.3% year on year, beating analyst expectations by 4.09%. It was a solid quarter for the company, with an exceptional revenue growth and a very optimistic guidance for the next quarter.
"We delivered outstanding results for the fourth quarter with 61% revenue growth and 57% billings growth year over year, while driving operational efficiency across the company and delivering on Rule of 80 for the quarter and for the full year," said Jay Chaudhry, Chairman and CEO of Zscaler.
The stock is up 19.7% since the results and currently trades at $185.10.
We think Zscaler is a good business, but is it a buy today? Read our full report here, it's free.
Best Q2: SentinelOne (NYSE:S)
With roots in the Israeli cyber intelligence community, SentinelOne (NYSE:S) provides software to help organizations efficiently detect, prevent, and investigate cyber attacks.
SentinelOne reported revenues of $102.5 million, up 124% year on year, beating analyst expectations by 7.15%. It was a very strong quarter for the company, with an exceptional revenue growth and a significant improvement in net revenue retention rate.
SentinelOne achieved the strongest analyst estimates beat, fastest revenue growth, and highest full year guidance raise among its peers. The company added 164 enterprise customers paying more than $100,000 annually to a total of 755. The stock is up 2.96% since the results and currently trades at $28.11.
Is now the time to buy SentinelOne? Access our full analysis of the earnings results here, it's free.
Weakest Q2: ForgeRock (NYSE:FORG)
Founded in Norway by former Sun Microsystems engineers, ForgeRock (NYSE:FORG) offers software as a service that helps companies secure and manage the identity of their customers and employees.
ForgeRock reported revenues of $47.6 million, up 8.47% year on year, beating analyst expectations by 1.05%. It was a weak quarter for the company, with guidance for both the next quarter and the full year missing analysts' expectations.
ForgeRock had the slowest revenue growth and weakest full year guidance update in the group. The stock is down 22.9% since the results and currently trades at $17.14.
Read our full analysis of ForgeRock's results here.
CrowdStrike (NASDAQ:CRWD)
Founded by George Kurtz, the former CTO of the antivirus company McAfee, CrowdStrike (NASDAQ:CRWD) provides cybersecurity software that protects companies from breaches and helps them detect and respond to cyber attacks.
CrowdStrike reported revenues of $535.1 million, up 58.4% year on year, beating analyst expectations by 3.62%. It was a solid quarter for the company, with an exceptional revenue growth.
The company added 1,741 customers to a total of 19,686. The stock is down 5.32% since the results and currently trades at $183.05.
Read our full, actionable report on CrowdStrike here, it's free.
Okta (NASDAQ:OKTA)
Founded during the aftermath of the financial crisis in 2009, Okta (NASDAQ:OKTA) is a cloud-based software as a service platform that helps companies manage identity for their employees and customers.
Okta reported revenues of $451.8 million, up 43.2% year on year, beating analyst expectations by 4.91%. It was a solid quarter for the company, with a strong revenue growth.
The stock is down 33.1% since the results and currently trades at $61.20.
Read our full, actionable report on Okta here, it's free.
The author has no position in any of the stocks mentioned